The Church proposes rediscovering the liturgical year and the value of in-person Mass as a living encounter with Christ, while also sending gestures of closeness to various global communities.

In the General Audience held on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo XIV dedicated the catechesis to the fifth chapter of the conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium of Vatican II, focusing on the value of the liturgical year within the life of believers.

The cycle of Christian feasts, coined under the notion of the “liturgical year” by Abbot Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875) and later expanded upon by Pius XII in the encyclical Mediator Dei, is not a mere historical evocation or a cold representation of the past. It is the presence of Christ who continues the work of salvation in his Church, allowing the faithful to remain in constant contact with the redemptive action of his grace.

Sunday: foundation, center and meaning of time

Within this temporal cycle, Sunday is positioned as the “foundation and core of the liturgical year” and the “primordial feast.” Beyond the linguistic root—whether dies Domini or the reference to the “day of the sun” (Sunday, Sonntag) understood as the light of Christ—the theology presented quotes Saint John Paul II in his apostolic letter Dies Domini (1998): Sunday is the weekly Passover that traverses the ages of humankind like an arrow pointed toward the second coming of Christ.

For Sunday sanctification, participation in the Eucharist is irreplaceable:

• Community gathering (convenire in unum): In the assembly, the community makes visible its communion and belonging to the Church.
• Real presence versus virtual: Mere virtual presence or merely passive attendance does not replace active participation in the encounter with the Risen One.
• Work and impossibilities: It was urged to seek the best possible conditions so that those who are forced to work on Sunday can have access to Mass.

Likewise, the annual cycle integrates Easter—followed by the Fifty Days of Advent leading up to Pentecost and prepared for by Lent—the Christmas season, and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, along with the commemoration of martyrs and saints. All of this forms a fundamental pedagogical framework for pastoral action.

Closeness in the face of tragedies and greetings to the pilgrims

In the final part of the meeting, Leo XIV expressed his closeness to the Colombian people after the effects of the recent earthquake that caused victims, injuries and considerable material damage, assuring prayers for the deceased and those affected, and thanking the rescue efforts.

In his greetings to the various groups of continental and international pilgrims, he highlighted:

• Spanish-speaking community: Ask for the intercession of the Virgin Mary to participate actively in the mysteries of Christ, especially in the Sunday Eucharist.
• Portuguese-speaking faithful (with emphasis on Mozambique): Exhortation to attend Sunday services in person rather than virtual broadcasts.
• Polish-speaking pilgrims: Historical reminder of the triumph in the Battle of Warsaw (August 15, 1920) and the liturgical memorial of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe on the eve of the Assumption.
• Faithful of French, English, German, Chinese and Arabic languages: Messages focused on bearing witness to the love of Christ in the world, the primacy of worship to God according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, concord and the value of the liturgical cycle.
• Italian pilgrims: I greet the Brothers of St. Gabriel (Asia and Africa) on their 25th anniversary of religious profession, the members of the International Opera Camp «Giorgio La Pira», the «Il Cenacolo» group from Maropati, as well as young people, the sick and newlyweds, entrusting them to the proximity of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.